The #1 Thing You Should Remember to Bring Hiking

There are plenty of things on the list of what to bring along with you when you head out on a hike. Water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray, layers… the list goes on. But no matter where you are going hiking, there is one thing you really should never forget.

So what’s the number one thing you should always remember?

Your boots.

Uh… what? That seems obvious.Yup. That’s right.I went hiking, and forgot my boots.And not like a little hike in the woods, I was hiking Mount Washington, and I forgot my hiking boots at home…

In August of 2014, my now husband and I, decided we were going to climb Mountain Washington with our 7-month old in tow. We started our trip in VT, at Brennan’s parents cabin located on the base of Mad River Glenn. Then we were going to drive to Mount Washington, sleep over, wake up, hike the mountain, and then drive to my parents cabin in Maine, and stay for a few days.

It was in VT when I realized I didn’t have my boots, everyone wanted to go for a hike and I couldn’t find my boots anywhere. So I stayed back with the napping babes, while everyone else went for a hike.

Shit. What was I going to do?Buy a new pair of boots I guess!!

Now this is going to unintentionally turn into a slight review of Keen hiking boots…

By the time we got to Mount Washington, most stores were not open, and the few we stopped at, didn’t have any hiking boots. There was a hiking store just shy of the base of the mountain that opened the next morning at 7am. So we parked our truck, blew up our air mattress, and myself, Brennan, and our little love, Eleanor, passed out in the bed of the truck.

Morning came, and the first thing we did was head to the shop to by a pair of boots.I chose a pair of Keen boots. These bad boys.

And they have easily become my favorite hiking boots. They are so comfortable, good traction, waterproof, and the best part? You would assume hiking boots need a good amount of breaking in, most people wouldn’t wear their new hiking boots for the first time hiking a relatively major mountain like Mount Washington, but I had no other choice. I’d hiked Mount Washington once before when I was around 12, but Brennan never had, and I really didn’t want to ditch our trip. I wanted to hike the mountain. And you know what…I got ONE tiny blister. Threw some mole skin over it and moved on.

These boots are amazing.SO…never forget your boots. But if you do… definitely buy a pair of Keens.

Or maybe you’ll want to forget your boots on purpose so you can have an excuse to get new boots haha